In my quest for non-candy presents, I came across these two gorgeous Flensted Mobiles: Love D’Amour and Happy Hearts. Both are far less fattening than chocolate and way longer lasting than flowers.

For angel lovers, Haba’s Heart Angel would be a great gift.

One of my son’s favorite parties was a February birthday where they decorated heart-shaped boxes (I still have to have it on my dresser), and we’ve got a Heart Box craft set perfect for such parties.

If you’re talking about kids exchanging cards, your non-candy Valentines have to be really cool if you want to avoid toothbrush-for-Halloween syndrome. Luckily, we have some really great toys small and inexpensive enough to bring for the whole class:

• Monkey Pencils
• Racing Cars
• Moving Mice
• Yo-Yos
• Tops

And if you’re getting the first gift for your new little Valentine (congratulations!), we have some great heart-themed baby necessities:

• Heart Clip
• Heart Rattle
• Heart Pacifier Chain
• and many more

My son and I had fun looking at moon phases on the calendar to figure out when Chinese New Year might be this year: usually the second new moon after the winter solstice (sometime between Dec. 19 and 22). We talked a lot about how the sun is better for tracking time in days, but the moon probably was better at tracking time in months before paper calendars were widely available.
We also had fun talking about transitioning to the the Year of the Ox. We looked at what years we were born in (like a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, he decided his Tiger beat my Rat even if it is still my year), and made some predictions about what might happen this year.

The most exciting thing for my son is the importance dragons play in Chinese New Year. YouTube has a great selection of Dragon Dances to watch.

And we made our own dragons! This craft is easy and can be easily tailored to many different age groups. All you need are some empty egg cartons, string and paint.

Want more dragons? We’ve got toys, books and more to bring luck and fun in the coming year.

Kathe Kruse is our newest brand, and the toys are made in Germany. I am really impressed with the Kathe Kruse puzzles. The colors are beautiful and each block is delicately detailed with metallic paint.

New moms will love all the infant and baby toys as well. Many are made with organic materials, and they squeak, hold pacifiers, and generally give comfort. Poupsis, giraffes and stars are just some of the unusual creatures from Kathe Kruse.

I really like the Kathe Kruse dolls, especially the Nature Conservation Angel. What a gorgeous little girl! The Mini It’s Me Winter Doll is also incredible. You can tell by the description I wrote how much I love all her beautiful details and extras.

Take a look at all the fabulous new Kathe Kruse products and let us know what you think!

Selecta uses sustainable wood for their toys, and uses the wood chips left over from production for their German factory’s exclusive heat source. The toys feel incredibly sturdy and the wood is a beautiful honey color due to Selecta’s exclusive beeswax finish.

My hands-down favorite is Pedella, the duck push toy. Pedella’s mostly wood, but has flat feet made of heavy fabric. His feet not only slap every time them come down on the floor, the rollers going over the fabric gives the toy a hilarious waddling movement as he’s pushed along. Papagallo is a close second, and we got many other pretty push toys.

I also love the Pepito and Benita stroller toys. I can sometimes get cute overdose, but these guys never fail to make me smile, and their noises are attention getting without being annoying. They’ll definitely keep toddlers entertained when they’re not so excited about being confined to strollers.

Selecta also has something I want for my 10-year-old: activity dice games. My kids know if they say “I’m bored” they immediately have to clean their rooms (the only way I could abolish this annoying phrase), but these oversized dice with different themes, Playing Outside, Rainy Day and How Can I Help, are a great go-to when trying to figure out what to do (and adding a little fun to helping around the house. Hmmmm… wonder if I could weight the “doing dishes” side).

Have questions or comments about Selecta? Let us know!

The wooden rattles, pacifier holders, and stroller toys contain small pieces including glued on mirrors and/or prisms that can detach, posing a choking hazard to infants. The head of the ladybug puzzle pieces also poses a choking hazard.

Please visit the HABA Recall page and the CPSC Haba Recall page for more information.

“Part one of this recall involves the following items in which incidents were reported; however, no injuries occurred.” Below are items belonging to part one of the recall:

0972 Lucy Clutching Toy

0973 Little Heart Clutching Toy

0920 Clutching Toy Belinda

2268 Triolino Puzzle

0951 Miro

1037 Bunny Pacifier Chain

1048 Pacifier Chain Bear

* * * * *

“Part two of this recall is a proactive decision by HABA in light of the similar design of these toys to the above toys being recalled. To date, there have been no injuries, incidents or product failures associated with these toys. The decision is made out of an abundance of caution and concern for the safety of our consumer’s children.” Below are pictures of the items belonging to part two of the recall:

0917 Speedy Clutching Toy

0971 Bella Clutching Toy

0919 Clutching Toy Pixie’s World

0924 Clutching Toy Pirate

0974 Bonita Clutching Toy

0975 Rally Clutching Toy

1062 Pram Decoration Little Hearts

1066 Flori

1067 Triola

1184 Trio

3572 Discovery Ball W/rattle

3571 Discovery Balls, Set Of 4

Click here to read more about the recall from HABA
Click here to open the Recall Application Form

If you have any questions after reading the above links, please contact us or Haba USA.

Recently, German company HABA, sent us a statement to reassure parents specifically concerning the safety of HABA baby toys in this regard.

HABA is one of our most favorite brands and we carry a large selection of HABA toys. HABA baby toys — clutching toys and teething rings are very popular so we’re glad to receive such a statement.

Excerpts from the statement by HABA:

HABA toys for children under 3 years of age are additionally tested after the European Norm for Security of Toys EN71/9 concerning “Organic chemical compounds”.

In this process, allergenic or carcinogenic dispersion colors, flame retardants, monomere (e.g. Bisphenol A), solvents (e.g. Methanol) and other sanitary critical components are tested.

The full statement is as shown below:

We love this little Pushing Car. Why? Because big brother can push little sister around and vice versa.

And because our kids love to hide things all over the place. This little pushing car has a little compartment at the back for storing things and a little pocket for hiding even more of the kids toys!

We also love this adorable caterpillar rattle, the Clutching Toy Flapsi. It makes a clacking sound and anything that makes sounds for baby is a plus since it’s baby’s most heightened senses.

Lastly, with all the blocks the kids have, it’s always nice to have a bag to store them in. We think the Bag TiTaTo can do the job pretty well.

View more new HABA arrivals